It starts! 2013 tobacco growing season!

[squeezyjohn]

Little tobacco growing update ...


Here are the tobacco plantlets - still in their cardboard tubes but now outside in the unheated greenhouse with a new solar powered drip irrigation system to keep the bottom of the tray wet (from rainwater collected from the top of the greenhouse!) - The strips of copper around the trays are to stop slugs and snails. The plants are now thinned to one plant per pot.

Most varieties are doing very well - but Del Gold are still tiny and Alida are a complete flop! There are 3 tiny seedlings that are still as tiny as when they emerged. Yellow Twist Bud is very vigorous! These plants are just over a month from germination

Then there's the rustica which I germinated much later on:

Growing like the true weed it is!

Meanwhile on the allotment I have been going for an hour or so every day and getting the ground prepared for the tobacco ...

... and the potatoes, leeks, onions, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, parsnips, tomatilloes, yacon, oca, ...

The reason I'm getting things organised is that I'll be going away for a bit over 2 weeks - I cannot guarantee that the plants will stay well watered! So I have got this solar irrigation up and running.

It's a great thing! It pumps from my water butt back in to the greenhouse at 3 hour intervals ... the amount of water depends on the amount of sunlight ... so the hotter it gets - the more water they get ... perfect in principle!

[Faylool]

The recipe was effectively deleted from the site ecf. The reason was probably because it's not recommended to vape WTA that's done badly. Sorry. I emailed someone for it though and they might come though plus there will probably be bits and pieces on ecf if you search postS made my Dvap. anybody interested in it and has the time will learn a lot there. Mainly that snus is the best source or it! It's more cost effective too and probably safer for your health although I think that's just a safety net type opinion. I know it's why I started snusing. Save money, more convenient and reliable source. I do get tired of vaping! Seriously. It gets to impressing me with hot metal coils and electricity and just is not mellow! Sensitive I am
Read Rustica Tobacco has higher mellow making properties BTW. an answer I was looking for. Ahhhh well. All in the interest of more knowledge. Info gathering maybe even trivia really. I have too much time on my hands lately!

[Faylool]

Ill send a link if I can find it again. It's long. Uses citric acid, soda bicarbonate,oil and distilled water. I'm not sure about the citric acid part ( vita C) must revisit. Will do

[tattooer601]

Thanks! Sounds like i have coming something ok for a beginner. Remember. I will be making WTA with it as my project. And perhaps try a snus. If this thread continues hey should stickie it. Even though I don't actually know what sticky does. I guess so it never gets buried?

Faylool...
What is your method of extraction,if I may ask?
Ive only seen/read of soaking in propelene glycol....
Sorry for poor spelling

[Faylool]

Thanks! Sounds like i have coming something ok for a beginner. Remember. I will be making WTA with it as my project. And perhaps try a snus. If this thread continues hey should stickie it. Even though I don't actually know what sticky does. I guess so it never gets buried?

[squeezyjohn]

Well there's 2 things to consider Faylool ... the leaf needs to be ripe enough to have a good flavour when cured - and that's different for different varieties. You can start harvesting when the leaves snap off where they join the stem with a crack (like celery does when you break off a piece) ... but you can choose to leave the leaf on the plant longer up to the point where it's all dying and yellow - almost starting to cure on the plant.

Generally under-ripe tobacco tastes bland is too weak and over-ripe makes a very strong flavoured and strong in nicotine leaf ... most people aim for somewhere in the middle.

When harvesting you've got to worry about how much warm weather you've got to cure it unless you have access to a room with the temperature and humidity can be controlled electrically. Colour curing will take up to 8 weeks given the right conditions but can be quicker than that.

You'll have no problem getting the rustica to come good - it grows so fast you probably have time to grow it and then harvest the whole stalk - and it will make another plant from the roots before the season is over!

Also - colour curing isn't "drying" - if you dry it too fast in a hot windy place then it dries green like oregano - that's irreversible! And green tobacco is no good for snus, chew or smoking - it makes OK compost! You need warm temperatures and high humidity to let the leaves die and turn yellow / brown before they can be fully dried off.

[Faylool]

So what is considered harvesting too early? Like if you want to dry during dry season here in Oregon? What is the penalty for harvesting too soon. Will it be weaker less bitter or opposite type of info.

[squeezyjohn]

Just a little update on the home grown tobacco for next year's snus and twist.

A short video tracking the progress of my seedlings from germination to how they are today.

[squeezyjohn]

RUSTICA NEWS!

Ha ha! The rustica seeds I saved from the best plant in last year's grow have all germinated too - anyone who I sent seeds to and want to try growing should probably get a move on with it!

If everything survives to planting out I will have 75 tobacco plants in total - 43 regular varieties and 32 of the smaller but stronger rustica. The down side is that the weather has been so cold and wet that the soil is still unworkable on the allotment and I will have to prepare the beds in a much shorter space of time than I had planned on. It's nearly April and there are very few signs of spring here:

Weather forecast:
Friday 22nd March - Rain - Max 4ºC - Min 1ºC
Saturday 23rd Mar - Snow - Max 1ºC - Min -3ºC
Sunday 24th March - Cloud - Max 0ºC - Min -3ºC
Monday 25th March - Cloud - Max 2ºC - Min -2ºC
Tuesday 26th March - Cloud - Max 2ºC - Min -2ºC

That, my friends, is not spring weather!

[squeezyjohn]

Bingo!

In all seriousness - the flowers can be absolutely stunning and smell very sweet.

[CCC]

As the species Nicotiana is also grown as ornamental plants world-wide I can't see how you could be convicted for growing it easily. I wouldn't want to suggest anyone breaks the law - but all varieties contain some level of nicotine in their leaves - it can't seriously be true that you can't grow Nicotiana in Oz? I mean - tomatoes contain quite a lot of nicotine!

Actually you are right i just found this information -

Ornamental Tobacco

Due to our excise laws, ordinary tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) can not be grown by the home gardener as the production of a tobacco crop invites the payment of excise. The good news is that there are ornamental varieties of tobacco with attractive foliage and perfumed flowers that can be grown in the garden.
These highly decorative and often fragrant plants are largely unknown in Australian gardens as it was until recently extremely difficult to bring their seed into the country. A new system of quarantine clearance has opened the door to the importation of new varieties of ornamental tobacco.
Nicotiana tabacum - Common tobacco can be grown in gardens for ornamental purposes but to harvest a crop of tobacco leaves requires payment of a tax.

[squeezyjohn]

It does depend on the variety - the Rustica for example have a high nicotine level, but the plants are much smaller than classic Virginia and Burley plants and so they yield less (they also can be planted closer together)

General rule of thumb is 4oz dry weight of tobacco per plant although in reality it can go from 2oz to 7oz depending on the success of the grow. I did some calculations back in this thread relating to how many plants you'd need to grow to get enough tobacco to make a year's supply of snus or chewing tobacco.

Cheers
Squeezy

[Naswari]

How much tobacco would you reasonably expect to get (weight wise) from that?

[squeezyjohn]

Harvest time is when they're ready! It depends on how early I can get them in the open ground (after all risk of frost has passed) It depends on the weather while they are growing too.

I would hope to get the leaves in and curing before the end of August to reduce the risk of moulding which happened to a lot of my crop last year as the weather got cold and damp towards November. The leaves need about 6 weeks of colour curing in the right kind of conditions which are warm and 50-70% humidity which is perfect in my greenhouse through August and September!

[Naswari]

I doubt I'll ever grow my own but I'll be looking in on how these plants progress just out of curiosity more than anything else.

I take it harvest time is around September?